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S i d e b a r
Christ versus Buddha
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This Rock
Volume 16, Number 5
 May-June 2005 
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In his Fundamentals of the Faith, Peter Kreeft writes that "there have been only two people in history who so astonished people that they asked not ‘Who are you?’ but ‘What are you? A man or a god?’ They were Jesus and Buddha." He then contrasts the striking differences between the two: "Buddha’s clear answer to this question was: ‘I am a man, not a god’; Christ’s clear answer was: ‘I am both Son of Man and Son of God.’ Buddha said, ‘Look not to me, look to my dharma’; Christ said, ‘Come unto me.’ Buddha said, ‘Be ye lamps unto yourselves’; Christ said, ‘I am the light of the world.’"
Yet as we’ve seen, it is quite common to find Christ reduced to the level of "philosopher" or "great teacher," just as Buddha sometimes is elevated to a state of divinity. Certainly, there are some laudable ethical teachings of Buddha: Resist greed and anger, be compassionate, and so forth. But there remain profound differences between the two men:
| Christ claimed to be the one and only true God who came to suffer, die, and rise again, establishing a unique and everlasting covenant with man. | Buddha is believed to be one of many thatăgata (thus-come-one). The historical Buddha is just one of several thatăgata who come in various ages to teach that life is an illusion and to remove human desires and attachments. |
| Christ taught that he is "the way, and the truth, and the life." The way to what? "No one comes to the Father," Jesus continues, "but by me" (John 14:6). Jesus comes to reveal the Father, the Creator of all things, so man could have fullness of life. | Buddha taught how man could escape suffering through loss of desire and personality. He held that every person must find his own path to nirvana, or the extinction of self.
| | Christ preached the reality of sin, the nature of God the Father, and the need for repentance and salvation. | Buddha preached the untenable nature of existence and the means to escape suffering. Buddhism denies the ultimate existence of sin and the necessity of grace.
| | Christ taught that God is completely other, but he also taught that God wishes to share his divine life, given through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. | Buddha taught individuality must perish and that everything is one.
| | Christ established a Church, with a structure of authority, based on his words and example. He said, "Follow me!" | Buddha left a teaching in which each person must find his own path. He stated, "After my death, the dharma shall be your teacher. Follow the dharma and you will be true to me."
| | Christ rose from the dead only once and will return as the King of Kings. He revealed his own divinity, saying, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). | Buddha is a "model," regardless of whether he was a historical person or not. Buddha suggests that "there is no ‘I’; there is no ‘self.’" At his death, when he experienced pari-nirvana ("final extinction"), he stated that the question of the afterlife was "not conducive to edification."
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